Love my AirPods Pro, but this weekend I noticed the performance had degraded after a few weeks:
It turns out, at least in my case, the inner mics were somehow blocked, even though they looked just fine. Cleaning the meshes with isopropyl alcohol didn't have an effect. Following the suggestions on the above thread of sucking air several times through those inner mic meshes, as ridiculous as it sounded, fixed the problems. My AirPods Pro are back to sounding as good as new, once again.
To be clear, the meshes we're talking about are the black pill-shaped ones that face inward when you wear the AirPods Pro (you're also looking at them when the AirPods Pro are nestled in their case). If you suck on the meshes, you can feel air come through easily. I believe these are also part of the pressure-relief feature in addition to dynamic EQ and ANC calibration feedback.
- The Transparency mode had lost its "sparkle" and was somewhat muffled.
- My voice was "boomy" sounding in my head when speaking on calls, regardless of AirPods Pro Mode.
- I started hearing the thumps of my own footsteps and even the creaking of my neck muscles.
- Bass response was reduced, and the music just didn't have that "wow" effect from when I first got the AirPods Pro.
- Noice Cancellation was less impressive.
- Both AirPods were now failing the "Fit Test" in Settings->Bluetooth->AirPods Pro, regardless of which tip size was installed or how they were inserted in my ears.
It turns out, at least in my case, the inner mics were somehow blocked, even though they looked just fine. Cleaning the meshes with isopropyl alcohol didn't have an effect. Following the suggestions on the above thread of sucking air several times through those inner mic meshes, as ridiculous as it sounded, fixed the problems. My AirPods Pro are back to sounding as good as new, once again.
To be clear, the meshes we're talking about are the black pill-shaped ones that face inward when you wear the AirPods Pro (you're also looking at them when the AirPods Pro are nestled in their case). If you suck on the meshes, you can feel air come through easily. I believe these are also part of the pressure-relief feature in addition to dynamic EQ and ANC calibration feedback.
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